NASHUA – For the past 10 years, Charles Okorie has been leading residents, students and even elected officials from Greeley Park to the Nashua River for the annual Water Walk.
After immigrating to the U.S. in 1999, Okorie, stayed in contact with his friends and family in his native Nigeria — a place where clean drinking water is a rare commodity.
“Things were not getting better,” he said during this year’s Water Walk on Sept. 13.
Okorie, who is now chairman of the Thank You Project, said 100,000 Nigerian children under age five die every year from contaminated water — a number that is greater than the population of Nashua. He also said the average life expectancy in that part of the world is 54 whereas the U.S. has an average life expectancy of 78.
Despite being more than 5,200 miles from home, Okorie knew he had to do something to help. His idea was to host a Water Walk; however, it would prove to be no easy task.
“When I started, I felt like I was being delusional,” he said, adding that there were only a few individuals who would work with him to launch the new venture.
One of them was then-U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH).
“I sat down with her and told her how conflicted I was,” said Okorie. “She encouraged me that I wasn’t being delusional.”
Now serving as New Hampshire’s 83rd governor, Ayotte continues to be an avid Water Walk supporter.
“We take for granted that we can turn on that faucet,” she said. “Without water, there’s no life. There’s nothing more rewarding than to help someone with something that is harming them.”
Congresswoman Maggie Goodlander (D-NH) lauded Okorie for his tireless work.
“This man shows us what vocation looks like,” she said. “Walking together is the most powerful thing we can do in this country.”
Mayor James Donchess has also stood by Okorie since the advent of the Water Walk.
“Charles is someone who brings people together and does good in the world,” he said.
Okorie said approximately $250,000 has been raised since the Water Walk began in 2015.
Since then, seven wells serving up to 5,000 people have been constructed in the Nigerian communities of Achi, Ututu and Mbieri. The money has also been used to fund a scholarship program.
This year, Okorie said the Water Walk is projected to raise approximately $50,000. Because of a decrease in the value of Nigerian currency, he said there will be enough money to construct three more wells by the end of the year.
“I’ll give it to them as a Christmas present,” he said.
Okorie also appealed to the students in attendance from Rivier University, Bishop Guertin High School, Nashua High School North and St. Christopher Academy.
“Make what you’re doing go viral, you guys were born with computers in your hands,” he said. “It will change the destiny of an entire generation. The world will know that we were here.”
Rivier senior Kathryn Moriarty, a peer mentor in the university’s Global Scholars Honors Program, said the Water Walk was a good chance to bond with new members of the program, particularly during the early weeks of the fall semester.
“It was fun to be part of this opportunity,” she said.
